France, Oct. 10 -- Robert Badinter, the justice minister who ended the death penalty in 1981, was inducted into the Pantheon in Paris on Thursday as France paid tribute to his lifelong fight for justice- withPresident Emmanuel Macron praising the abolitionist's "essential and unfinished battles".

Thousands of people lined the Rue Soufflot to applaud as officers carried a symbolic coffin draped in the French flag into the national mausoleum.

The casket contained Badinter's lawyer's robe, a copy of his speech against capital punishment and several books, his wife told TF1 television.

Inside the Pantheon, Macron said Badinter's voice would continue to inspire France's fight for equality and human rights.

"As he enters the Pantheon, we he...